Ballistics App + Weather Meter VS Kestrel with Ballistics Solver?

[RubiconJoey]

Help me understand why anyone would spend the extra money ($450 and up) on a Kestrel with a built in ballistics solver when you can buy a basic weather meter for $100 (like the WeatherFlow) and pair it to a ballistics app like Geoballistics, 4DOF or AB? No hate or anything, I legitimately want to know what I would be missing? Am I overlooking something? I know it's convenient to have it all in one device but, that seems like relatively small thing especially when considering the Kestrel hardware requires a bunch of button pushing and lacks the benefits of a smartphone touch screen.

 

[_Windrider_]

Help me understand why anyone would spend the extra money ($450 and up) on a Kestrel with a built in ballistics solver when you can buy a basic weather meter for $100 (like the WeatherFlow) and pair it to a ballistics app like Geoballistics, 4DOF or AB? No hate or anything, I legitimately want to know what I would be missing? Am I overlooking something? I know it's convenient to have it all in one device but, that seems like relatively small thing especially when considering the Kestrel hardware requires a bunch of button pushing and lacks the benefits of a smartphone touch screen.

It’s literally just redundancy and the fact that I don’t have to bring two devices or worry about pairing to my phone or anything like that. It’s a standalone device if you’re looking to be lightweight when you’re hunting or anything like that it’s much easier solution, but you can’t go wrong. Either way is as long as you know how to use it.

 

[RubiconJoey]

Well damn, the gear junkie in me really wanted it to be more than that. I was expecting some kind of competitive advantage, even if only a small one. It's kind of baffling to me that so many people have them.

 

[Steel+Killer]

Well damn, the gear junkie in me really wanted it to be more than that. I was expecting some kind of competitive advantage, even if only a small one. It's kind of baffling to me that so many people have them.

The biggest thing that is not built into the WeatherFlow weather meter vs the Kestrel is a built-in compass which will let you capture WD (wind direction) and your DOF (direction of fire) with the WeatherFlow you have to depend on the built-in compass in your phone (which can be off by 15* or more) or I suppose you could use a standard compass, but now you have another device to juggle and don't get it near your phone that can throw it off worse that the one in your phone

I don't need to explain to you why WD and DOF is important when it comes to LR shooting do I?

THE INFO ABOVE IS WRONG THERE ARE SOME MODELS THAT DO HAVE THEIR OWN INTERNAL COMPASS!

 

[RubiconJoey]

Fair point, the Kestrel does simplify gathering WD and DOF.

 

[CK1.0]

The WeatherFLOW for precision shooting (tan model, not the blue one) has an internal compass and when combined with most compatible ballistic apps does everything a Kestrel 5700 does, cheaper, and arguably easier (since the UI with the Kestrels can be clunky and most apps are easier to navigate).

That said, the WeatherFLOWs don’t work correctly with Strelok Pro in the USA due to bugs that haven’t been fixed since it was removed from US App stores. The wind readings will be jacked up and wonky.

Besides that… the biggest advantage the Kestrels have is how quickly they adapt to conditions… it can take 20-30mins for a WeatherFLOW to read the correct temperature and atmospheric conditions and then it tracks/changes slowly too… while Kestrels are good to go and read correctly in minutes.

 

[Steel+Killer]

The WeatherFLOW for precision shooting (tan model, not the blue one) has an internal compass and when combined with most compatible ballistic apps does everything a Kestrel 5700 does, cheaper, and arguably easier (since the UI with the Kestrels can be clunky and most apps are easier to navigate).

I thought that also, but if you look at the Technical Specs for it (Tan Model) it says the wind direction accuracy is dependent on phone/device which led me to believe it doesn't have its own internal compass, but who knows I could be wrong.

Measurement	Range	Accuracy	Notes
wind speed	.5-125mph	± 0.5%	calibrated by University of Florida Aerospace Engineering
wind direction	0-360°	depends on phone/device
humidity	0-95%	± 3% up to 85%
atmospheric pressure	8.9 to 32.5 inHg	± 0.0004 inHg
temperature	-10 to 140 °F	± 0.7 °F
Bluetooth range			up to 100 ft
Battery			CR 2450

Never mind I did some more research and there are different models some do and some don't have an internal compass.

I WAS WRONG AND STAND CORRECTED!

 

[CK1.0]

I thought that also, but if you look at the Technical Specs for it (Tan Model) it says the wind direction accuracy is dependent on phone/device which led me to believe it doesn't have its own internal compass, but who knows I could be wrong.

Measurement	Range	Accuracy	Notes
wind speed	.5-125mph	± 0.5%	calibrated by University of Florida Aerospace Engineering
wind direction	0-360°	depends on phone/device
humidity	0-95%	± 3% up to 85%
atmospheric pressure	8.9 to 32.5 inHg	± 0.0004 inHg
temperature	-10 to 140 °F	± 0.7 °F
Bluetooth range			up to 100 ft
Battery			CR 2450

Looks like they may not have an internal compass anymore, IDK?

It really doesn’t matter though, at least with an iPhone, its compass works fine and is plenty accurate enough (I actually found it easier to use the phone compass anyway most times as you can just set your DOF and then set where the wind is coming from in relation to that usually).

IMHO, unless someone is starting to shoot matches more frequently where a Kestrel starts to really become worth having, a WeatherFLOW + something like 4DOF can take them a long way.

 

[Steel+Killer]

Looks like they may not have an internal compass anymore, IDK?

It really doesn’t matter though, at least with an iPhone, its compass works fine and is plenty accurate enough (I actually found it easier to use the phone compass anyway most times as you can just set your DOF and then set where the wind is coming from in relation to that usually).

IMHO, unless someone is starting to shoot matches more frequently where a Kestrel starts to really become worth having, a WeatherFLOW + something like 4DOF can take them a long way.

You were correct I was wrong see my edited post above.

I agree with your statement shooting matches or LR hunting is where a Kestrel really shines.... IMO